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Secret Words, Secret Societies - Part 2

Author: Sandra Linville
Published on: Jul 13, 1999

Another order, not so ancient though, was founded to study and revive interest in Western magic. In 1888, S.L. MacGregor Mathers founded the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. As an occult society, it taught majick, qabalah, alchemy, tarot, astrology and other hermetic subjects. Its membership was mostly London intellectuals, artists and writers with its three most influential members being the poet William Butler Yeats, Arthur Edward Waite and Aleister Crowley. Too much infighting caused it to disperse in 1903. A New Order of the Golden Dawn was established and is dedicated to the teachings of Aleister Crowley who was known by the media as "The Great Beast" or "The Wickedest Man in the World." Its main function is to help initiate members into the Magical Life of Thelema. Thelema is a Greek word meaning will or intention.

The Rosicrucians or AMORC (Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis) are still around working toward mastering life through metaphysics and mysticism. The original Rose Cross Brotherhood, begun in 1597, worked to "restore the lost secrets of science, particularly medicine." They were asked to keep four tenets of the faith: cure the sick with no payment, don the native clothing in the county they traveled, attend one annual meeting and choose a successor at the time of their death. Oh, and also keep the Order's secrets for 100 years.

The Masons are basically a philanthropic organization. "Groliers" defines it as "the largest worldwide society, freemasonry is an organization of men based on the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, using builders' tools as symbols to teach basic moral truths generally accepted by persons of goodwill. It is religious in that a belief in God is the prime requirement for membership, but it is nonsectarian in that no religious test is used. The purpose of freemasonry is to enable men to meet in harmony, to promote friendship and to be charitable. Its basic ideals are that all persons are the children of one God, that all persons are related to each other and that the best way to worship God is to be of service to people."

The Masons' history is cluttered with controversy and it even engendered an Anti-Masonic party, the first major third party in American politics.

The Masons have a lot of rituals, lodges and names like "Mystic Order of Vailed Prophets of the Enchanted Realm," but basically they're just guys who want to have fun. I mean they're the guys, each with a red fez on his head and riding on a teeny motorcycle or car, in those Main Street parades. Those Shriners, who have reached the pinnacle of the Mason ladder, have helped countless children at their hospitals. Unless all those conspiratists are right and the Masons, who some believe to have evolved from the Templars, have something to do with everything.

Conspiratists also like cabals. A cabal is a small group of plotters or a clique. Maybe you've run into them at P.S. 152 - that snooty clique headed by, oh, no, that's another story. Let's talk about another cabal with some great words. Like the Yiddish Pickle Cabal in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Or the Cabal of the Sacred Spork, Eclectic Sponge Cabal, the Bavarian Illuminati Motorcycle Club, Cabal of the One True Marshmallow or !John Dillinger Died For Your Sins - all are Discordian Cabals. Now, before you go on - "Curb Your Dogma." To become a Discordian, follow these five, easy steps as listed in "Twiggets' Crash Course in Discordianism," written by St. Twiggets, K.S.C., chaplain of the Yiddish Pickle Cabal: 1. Don't believe anything you read; 2. Don't follow any steps; 3. The grass ISN'T greener on the other side, it's a myth; 4. Fnord (Don't ask me...it's just a word); 5. Consult your pineal gland for more steps.

Or, maybe you would rather be a member of Yale's Skull and Bones society. That is a little more difficult. They don't seem to have five easy steps. First, you have to attend Yale and then you have to be one of 15 juniors that are tapped for membership during your senior year. Of course, you may have to be ready for some very, very strange supersecret initiation rituals. According to "People Weekly," May 6, 1991, initiates may have to lie naked in a coffin while confessing their sexual exploits.

If you missed that tap for the Skull and Bones society, maybe you can negotiate membership into the Bohemian Club and join about 2,000 older boys at the Bohemian Grove camp. With plenty of room to spread out at the 2,700-acre retreat 75 miles north of San Francisco, a lot of aging politicians and industrialists hang out at this two-week summer camp. It might be a good time to consider sharing.

Every year, the Rainbow Family of Living Light is looking for a place to host a Gathering. Since 1972, more than 10,000 people, who may call themselves hippies, neo-hippies or other free spirits, congregate for a week somewhere in a national forest. It is not so hard to join this group. Just show up. In 1999, the North American Rainbow Gathering was tentatively scheduled for somewhere in Pennsylvania from June 28 - July 10. I hope that the Rainbow Family got together, joined the Bohemian Grove campers and learned some new campfire songs. And some new secrets. Maybe Simon Templar can teach them the secret handshake of the Knights Templar. Remember - "the Templars have something to do with everything." Are secret words a good thing?

Welcome to the Hermetic Order http://www.golden-dawn.org/mainpage.html

The Order of the Thelemic Golden Dawn http://www.tgd.org/

Index of Bohemian Grove Reportage http://www.sonic.net/~kerry/bohemian/ind...

The Knights Templar Research Ring http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?r...

Kinney.homepage http://www.well.com/user/jay/

&TOTSE - Home Page http://www.totse.com/index.htm

Discordianism http://www.kbuxton.com/discordia/

Cult Information http://www.csj.org/index.html

Illuminations http://home.fireplug.net/~rshand/index.h...

The Wild Bohemian Home Page http://www.halcyon.com/colinp/bohemian.h...

Rainbow Family of Living Light Unofficial Homepage http://www.welcomehome.org/rainbow.html

The Cosmic Mysteries of Mithras http://www.well.com/user/davidu/mithras....